Bear with me on my new favorite tiny gem. It is Fusion in Grecia. The chef, Andrés Pineda, is very talented, creative and artistic. He studied for several years at the Costa Rican Culinary Institute. His presentations are lovely and mélanges of flavors are very well balanced. He is young and charming. The prices are remarkably low for the quality of the ingredients and effort in preparation. The pluses outweigh the minuses, but the minuses need be mentioned. There are only four tables of four in this tiny space. Since everything is cooked to order, you must be willing to wait as long as an hour to be served. The chairs are hard. Parking is limited to space for three cars. Four of us had main courses, drinks and desserts for a total of 28000 C including a generous tip. We had chicken breast in mushroom sauce, pork kabobs, barbecued pork ribs and a scrumptious vegetarian Mexican dish. The first three were served on beds of fetuccini alongside pan-grilled baby zucchini, eggplant, red peppers, cauliflower and onions adorned with curly sprigs of snow pea plants. Dessert was roasted kiwi, cored and filled with other fruits, ice cream and chocolate sauce. Be sure to look at the lovely collection of art on the walls. Directions: As you enter Grecia from the Pan American Highway, go past the church, past the stop sign atop the hill and take the next left. Go straight past the next stop sign and it is on the right just past the butcher and motorcycle shops. Phone: 2444-0170.
A few months ago, I described a lunch we had at Leda in Caldera. Since then, two readers have chided me for mentioning what they considered only the second best seafood restaurant on the same block. The best, according to the contributors, is Costa Del Sol, a hotel and restaurant three hundred meters farther south on the same side of the same street. In 1988, I spent a lovely month on the Dalmatian Coast of former Yugoslavia and loved how the Croats prepared seafood. Back in San Francisco, two of my favorite seafood chefs were also Croatian. Their specialty was sole meunière, in a simple butter, parsley and lemon sauce. “Willy” Vinko Lastro, the owner and original chef at Costa del Sol, is Croatian. His wife is from Spain.. Lenguado is the local sole-sized half kilo member of the flounder family. It has never been a Costa Rican favorite, like the inexplicably tasteless tilapia. The lenguado here is plentiful and inexpensive. Very large members of the flounder family in the 6-8 kilo range are not very good in tropical waters, but lenguado are delicious, white, flakey, moist and tasty when fresh. They tend to soften and get watery when frozen. At Costa del Sol, the lenguado meunière was fresh and cooked perfectly. Served with fries and a simple salad, it cost 3500 C. The restaurant also has a reputation for outstanding paella Valenciana 14000 C for two, loaded with seafood including lobster, clams, calamari and shrimp. When the Caldera pista reopens, we are going to try it. Phone: 2634-4008
L’Ile De France opened to happy crowds of its long-time faithful clientele and many new comers in its new location on architecturally rich Avenida Escazú. Amidst dark textured walls, lovely cushioned chairs and banquettes and a back-lighted onyx bar, Jean Claude Fromont resumes his tried and true French classics that reigned supreme at the Hotel Bergerac in the past. Kudos to the management team for the seamless transformation and the fixed price luncheon options. The options include two of three courses or all three – appetizer, main dish and dessert for much less than the ala carte dinner costs.
Mushroom and Nuts is nestled in tiny Plaza Trejos in Escazú along with a fish place, a sushi restaurant, a pharmacy and a bakery. It is on the road heading west from Tony Roma’s past Hypermas, on the left side opposite the turn that leads to EPA and the pista. Parking can be a little tight, particularly at lunch time. Most of the cars are headed for Mushrooms and Nuts because of very nice executive specials at great prices in a clean indoor / outdoor setting with efficient and gracious service. The owners, Allen and his partner Rocia speak English as does one of the waiters. Business people from buildings across the way love the food and convenience. Leave it to Mij, to have made another quality discovery, albeit on her four-footed cane. My two lunches there were each 2900 C including tip and tax for three courses and a fruit drink. I had a salad of mixed tiny crisp greens in mild vinaigrette followed by linguini in a creamy mushroom sauce and a dessert of white chocolate cream with a fresh large mug of pineapple juice. On the second visit I chose a cup of garbanzo and pork soup, chicken curry with rice and a pair of fried banana fritters and a hazelnut pastry. Everything was reasonably well prepared and presented. They are open from 8am to 7:30pm.Monday – Wednesday, 8am to 9pm Thursday thru Saturday. Closed Sunday. 2288-9044.
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